Lily Expands IBD Portfolio in Morphic Deal

With the signing of a final agreement, Eli Lilly will extend its portfolio for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by paying $3.2 billion to purchase Morphic Holding.

The purchase, which is anticipated to finalise in quarter three of 2024, would give Lilly ownership of MORF-057, the principal asset of Morphic.

Omvoh, an anti-interleukin (IL)-23 treatment, was approved by the FDA in October 2023 for the treatment of ulcerative colitis, and Lilly is currently the manufacturer of one IBD medication.

The IBD market is very competitive, with Humira from AbbVie being the most paid drug. Oral medication formulations such as AbbVie’s Rinvoq and Bristol Myers Squibb’s Zeposia may still be preferred.

Lilly’s chief scientific officer Daniel Skovronsky stated: “Oral therapies could open up new possibilities for earlier intervention in diseases like ulcerative colitis, and also provide the potential for combination therapy to help patients with more severe disease.”